Hopewell resident captures 4 medals at Special Olympics USA Games

By Greg Macafeegmacafee@timesonline.com

Friday

Jul 27, 2018 at 7:30 PM

HOPEWELL — As she discussed her recent successes, her four medals dangled around her neck, a bright smile never left the face of Hopewell resident Lydia Wert, who laughed contagiously as she recalled her recent trip to Seattle.

At the beginning of July, Lydia, 19, along with her family, traveled over 2,000 miles to Seattle so she could compete in the Special Olympics USA Games. She earned the trip to Seattle last summer at the Pennsylvania Summer Games held at Penn State University, where she captured gold in the 25-meter freestyle swim.

“I went nuts and started jumping up and down,” Lydia said of when she found out she was going to Seattle.

When she traveled to the USA Games, she went as a part of Team Pennsylvania, which included 50 other athletes from the Keystone State, but Lydia also was the only athlete from Beaver County.

During her time in Seattle, Lydia navigated the pool at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way and bested her competition in the 25-meter freestyle and the 25-meter backstroke to capture her two gold medals. She turned in times of 17.44 seconds in the freestyle and 25.55 seconds in the back stroke.

The lone Beaver County representative also earned two silver medals in the 4x25-meter freestyle relay, where she swam the anchor leg, and the 4x25-meter medley relay, where she swam the backstroke leg of the relay. She was the only Pennsylvania swimmer to compete in both relays, and her teams turned in times of 1:30.56 and 2:05.03.

“It was pretty neat, you got to see all the flags as you walked into the arena,” Lydia said of her experience at the USA Games.

Over the past year, Lydia had the opportunity to improve on her times and prepare herself for the USA Games. She practiced with her Pennsylvania teammates during a team camp in Philadelphia, and she also got to practice with and compete in exhibitions with the Hopewell High School swim team.

“It makes sense because when the athletes practice with the high school swimmers, they are going to excel and improve their times with the extra help,” Lydia’s mother, Wendy, said.

All that hard work paid off as Lydia set a new personal record in the freestyle swim during her gold-medal performance.

Her accomplishments in Seattle gave Lydia the opportunity to be interviewed by ESPN, run on the field at PNC Park, and she even got to speak with Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. Thinking back on those moments made Lydia smile even brighter. But as she recalled her time in Seattle and everything that has happened since, there was something that brought even more joy to the young athlete’s face.

Having an opportunity to draw even more attention to Special Olympics.

“You can make a lot of friends,” Lydia said of what she likes to tell people who are thinking about participating.

Besides being an athlete, Lydia also acts as a Global Messenger for the Special Olympics, a role that has allowed her to give speeches, emcee the beginning of events and, in turn, grow the awareness of an organization that has benefited her over the past eight years.

She also has participated in fundraisers as well, including a UNcathalon, where Special Olympics athletes team up with businesses to participate in a decathlon type event to raise money.

“That was something that she got to do because she was a global messenger,” Wendy said. “She got to speak somewhere and someone saw her and asked her if she wanted to participate in the UNcathalon.”

Now, with the USA Games behind her, soccer is up next for Lydia as she continues to participate in a number of sports, while sharing life experiences with friends and family, and making memories that will last a lifetime.

“These athletes get opportunities to visit places and do things they normally, wouldn’t have the opportunity to do,” Wendy said. “It’s a wonderful program.”

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